Testimonials

Here's a selection of client comments on previous From Here 2 Timbuktu trips.

For the views that matter

Thanks From Here 2 Timbuktu for a unique and unforgettable experience! I loved that wild chase across the desert, the colour & life of the markets, the fabulous "biblical" scenes of robes, donkeys, sheep, goats, the spectacular geological formations of the Hombori mountains and the Bandiagara Cliffs, the amazing architecture of mud mosques, straw houses, flat-roofed houses, granaries etc etc Thanks for making all that accessible.Anne Harkin, Tuareg Desert Safari (2009)

Thanks for another fantastic trip - the gorillas and elephants were great but the real highlight was the incredible village experience in Central Africa. Long hard slog to get there, but worth every red, dusty mile.Will Potten, Dzanga Sangha, Cameroon (2011)

Expectations exceeded; the travel was what I hoped for and more. Lankester you are the man and a renaissance one too!Alan Coe (March 2011) - Mali, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the Mali to Cameroon Overland

Thank you for an amazing experience, it was so intense that we are still remembering new things. We look at the photos, and think wow did we do that?, it was too much to take in at the time!! It just keeps getting better as time goes on! .... if this trip hadn’t been taxing it would have been just another package tour, which is the last thing we wanted! It was a great trip which we will never forget, we saw the real Africa, not a sanitised hotel version of it! catching fleas from a goat shed ... priceless!!Peter and Sue Michaelis, Mali to Cameroon Overland (March 2011)

Well, as you can imagine, I fell in love with Mali. Its hard not to. Thank you so much for coordinating such a great trip. The guides were amazing, everyone was so helpful, and I just had an amazing time. Between the people and the landscape it is absolutely .. well ... hard to explain but I loved it.Judy Knudson, Tailor Made travel, Mali (2011)

Festival in the Desert 2011

Our Mali adventure with From Here 2 Timbuktu is up with the top of our adventures ... fulfilled our dreams and much more ... great companions, guides, fellow travellers and the Malian peoples’ friendliness and honesty, and of course the music ... never have felt safer...and we celebrated our 30 years of marriage with a Tuareg Wedding at the Festival au Desert at Timbuktu ... what a hoot!David and Denise Hooper

I have spent years travelling but Mali was one of the most surprising places I have ever been to, partly through my ignorance of this amazing country and the fantastic sights i saw. The desert, the river trip, the Dogon - they seemed like separate countries and made every day exciting and interesting. I was knocked out by the kindness and the warmth of the people I met ... special mention to those who travelled with us as our guides and drivers etc from Guy's team - especially Sory - who made our trip so special and put so much personal effort into each day. Thank you all!Jane Fraser

Festival In The Desert 2010

A trip that challenged me physically and emotionally, and I felt enriched by every moment of it!Etta Geras

Well organised and varied trip - you get a feel for the country, its people and its music.Thema Lovick

A lot of fun, Mali wonderful, people the best, just go, don't worry about security, you'll be well looked after. Grateful thanks to our dear leader, who was very fetching in pink.Eveline Gawne

I had a trip for life! Mali truly made me a better person. Thanks Guy! Mali is in my heart forever, so I will probably see you soon.Anna Helmersen

To say that the trip to Mali has changed our lives would not be an understatement. As seasoned travellers in other African countries we found the friendliness, respect and kindness with which we were treated overwhelming. We felt consistently safe and unthreatened even on dark nights in Bamako and were welcomed with greetings and smiles wherever we went. Our guides and fellow travellers became friends and it would be a great sadness if we did not see them again.Rob and Lyn Dix

Festival in the Desert 2009

Guy, THANK YOU for making magical moments happen in my life. The Mali trip was fab and exceeded the high expectations I had. I loved it all and we were blessed to have such a great crowd of people. So much credit goes to you. I will return and certainly have a taste for W Africa. Keep me informed of you future plans. I may well be a repeat customer.Barrie Birch

I'm home and missing Mali already. Thanks for a truly memorable trip. From here 2 Timbuktu did a great job.Richard Ross

Cruise Senegal 2009

Caroline and I both really loved the week, and have only good things to say about the trip. Great mix of people, great boat, great food, great guide! So a real winner – am sure everyone felt the same.Sacha Schoenfeld

We had no idea what to expect of Western Africa, although we have previously been to most countries in the East and the South of Africa. The Senegal River Trip was a really great way to get a first feel for Western Africa. There are few river boats left now in Africa and this one was definitely worth the trip. Le Bou El Mogdad was bit more comfortable too than we expected - and served up better food than we expected. The trip gave a great insight into the continued existence of tribal subsistence living in the country - and for the twitchers there was really good birding as well in the Parc d'oiseau De Dijouf. (February we were there - for those birders who are keen to know where it fits in the migration routes. Try also the Iles de la Madelaine just a few K off Dakar if you have a few hours left for birding on the way home.) While Senegal is not big on either desert or big mammals it has given us a real thirst now to widen our West Africa experiences, and a trip with From Here 2 Timbuktu to Mali, and then the Cameroons, and then maybe Gabon in now definitely on our agenda. (Not all at the one time!) Oh - and we should mention that Guy isn't a bad guide either!!! Very good actually. He makes it all happen - but quietly. Guy does a nice number in travelling Toureg style as well. As General Paton famously said "I shall return".Ted and David Black

I just want to say what a great trip we had- I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise- previously having thought I'd NEVER go on one! Still I think it was a cruise "with a difference"- all v relaxed & informal- you do make an excellent guide / leader - not too bossy but making it clear what's required.Sarah Wilmott

Weird to be back in the wilds of Radnorshire after feeling like I'd been rolled in the sands of West Africa - so many impressions, sights, sounds, tastes, and it took a little while not to address every stranger in my appalling french! What a party. I have nothing but good to say, and a huge thank you for being so cool and collected, and flexible.Jasmine Grassie

Huge congratulations to the maestro! WHAT a holiday! We just loved it all and I know just how much time and work you put into it. Every single hotel and eatery choice was perfect and no one even fell out - always a bonus.Gilly Miller

Festival in the Desert 2008

It was a truly inspiring and amazing holiday. Every day was a new adventure; every part of the country, from the plains, the river to the desert was a revelation - made me want to come back to Africa again and again. Our leader and guides were constant sources of fun, knowledge and information. It would be impossible to say what was the highlight of the holiday - music in the desert, the dramatic tuareg and their camels, surfing down a sand dune, walking in the Dogon country, visiting villages, waking up in Timbuctoo and looking out over the sand sea, falling asleep on the roof of a beautiful mud brick building while looking up at a blur of stars and a rising moon.. oh...and the cliff top villages cut into the rock face in the Dogon were something I will never forget.Sarah-Jane Hall

A lot of people blench at the thought - or memory - of group travel. I hadn't done it before going to Mali this year, and I had serious reservations. But I could NEVER have had the amazing experiences that I had without a lot more time at my disposal - not to mention preparation, organisation, research etc. And in fact the group experience was great fun, honest. The group chemistry was great. That was partly luck of the draw, but it also had a whole lot to do with Guy's knack of creating a positive, fun, cooperative dynamic. And Aly is brilliant - a quiet fixer who knows everyone. As for Mali and the Festival - magic. It's another world. I definitely recommend the experience.Amanda Vinnicombe

The Festival In The Desert was totally fantastic, definitely one of life’s peak highlights that left me planning my next trip to Mali. Exotic,magic adventure and desert music to carry you across the dunes til dawn. I can’t recommend it highly enough. And Guy was great fun. Go for it!Jane O'Toole

I went on Guy's inaugural tour last year and I really enjoyed it. I had spent a couple of months already travelling in Southern and Eastern Africa before joining the group in Mali so I was a little bit tired when I arrived in Mali but Guy's enthusiasm picked me up, and in fairness Mali is a pretty special place. I found it to be the most distinctive and culturally interesting country I had visited in sub-Saharan Africa. If you have a bit of patience and go with the flow its hard not to enjoy it. The itinerary is good and you have time to see most of the major sites. At times things will change along the way but it'll work itself out in the end. So sit back and enjoy. oh and the drive to the festival is the most fun i'd had in a car!Shane Ryder

My trip to Mali this January was the most fabulous way to start the year - I was really struck by the colour and vibrancy of the country and the holiday was full of adventure and fantastic new experiences - sleeping on rooves under starred filled skies, sailing past hippos on the Niger river, haggling for bargains in bustling markets, exploring ancient cave dwellings and, of course, listening to the music of Mali in the festival in the desert - accompanied by a camel or three. Travelling in Africa is not for control freaks and you have to adopt the same relaxed attitude as those around you but once you do that everything is fine. Tour organiser Guy Lankester was a great leader - unflappable, relaxed and always ready with an entertaining anecodote. Overall an amazing holiday - I'll be back!Bryony Worthington

Bespoke trips

Dear Gaye the Tuareg, - enjoy the rest of your time out here and thanks for everything - its been a really fantastic trip.Stefan Simanowitz, Bespoke Trip to Mali (Jan 2010)

Thank you for a wonderful exciting and unique journey in Mali. It was not only the “sights” we saw but the opportunity to see the lives of families and especially their children in their surroundings following their own way of life - not at all a show put on for tourists. I loved their friendliness and smiling faces towards us as we travelled. The Dogon valley and its people were especially of interest and I’d like to learn more about their history and culture. The first camp site on the Niger gets into my list of the 6 best camp sites in the world.. Many many thanks for an amazing journey.Irene Aitman, Bespoke trip to Mali (Jan 2010)

A wonderful trip giving westerners an opportunity to experience the vibrancy of Africa, meet African people and see something of their lives. Best wishes, and thank you for all the trouble you took to make the trip such a success. Ann Gover

We have travelled widely in Africa and elsewhere, but the Mali experience was unique. From Here 2 Timbuktu made sure that we saw all the major attractions, and the strange and colourful culture of the Dogon people, in particular, will long remain in our memory.Val and Geoff Mead

Tuareg Festival Safari 2009

I loved the idea that we had the flexibility to get to the Festival of Camels - whatever it took! It was fab to be there. The musica was good and being surrounded by gorgeous friendly Toureg people all done up in the "Sunday best" was amazing. The added bonus was that there were very few other tourists.Julie Christensen